Retort-discharging machine.



v J.'J. SIMMONDS. RETORT DISOHARGING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED-MAR. 9, 1914.

1,1 10,081 Patented Sept. 8, 1914. v

6 SHEETSSHEET l.

AT ORA/5Y8 J; J. SIMMQNDS. RETORT msomaeme mcmmr APPLIOATIQN FILED MAB. 9, 1914 1 1 1 ggl o fitented Sept. 8, 1914.

6 SHEETS SHEET 2.

WITNESSES MW g; r

J. J. SIMMONDS. I RETORT DISGHARGING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9, 1914.

Patanteai Sept, 8, 1914,

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

l/VI/E/VTOH WITNESSES 41.0,

J, (I. SIMMONDS.

RETORT DISOHARGING MACHINE- APPLIGATION FILED MAR. 9, 1914.

1 1 gs 1 a Patented Sept. 8, 19.14.

SHEETS-SHEET 4. a1 63 Ill A RIVEXS J. J. SIMMONDS.

RETORT mscamenm MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9, 1914.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

6 SHEETSSHBET 6 INVENTOR 'nnrrisn STATES PATENT 'FFiCEL JOHN J. SIMMGNDS, 0F IOLA, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR "T6 THE SIMMONDS ENGINEEJEENG CO1VPANY,-OF IOLA, KANSAE", .A CORPORATION OF'KANSAS.

REToRT-DISGHARGING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

FatentedSe'pt. 8.1914;

Application filed March 9.1914. serial ire. 323,331.

To all 1071 0722 it may concern Be it'known'that I, Join. J. 'Snmtonns, a citizen of the United States, residing at lola, county of Allen, State ofllansas, have invented ccrtain'new and useful improve-j ments in Retort-Discharging Machines; and I do hereby declare thefollowingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it 'appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention comprises an apparatus or. machine for removing from furna'ce retorts the residue remaining after heat treatment of ore therein.

In accordance with the present invention the machine comprises mechanically'driven elements arranged to enter the retorts of a furnace, and to clean them out, those ele m ents, in the preferred embodiment here dis closed in detail, comprising endless chains movable over suitable sprocket wheels or idlers, and carrying scrapers which progressively remove'the residue from the retorts simultaneously with the advance of the cleaning elements therei'nto'.

it is an object of the present invention to providea machine capable ofdischarging a plurality of retorts simultai'ieously, this machine preferably beingmovable along the trackway from one group of retorts to another, so that the discharging operation may be carried on progressively throughout the length of the furnace. As a means for producing simultaneous and progressive advance of the cleaning elements or plungers into their respective retorts, each of these cleaning elements 'is supported on a carriage mounted in suitable guideivays, and a main or'mastcr' carriage is utilized to shift all of the plungers simultaneously either forward or baclm'ard.

t is a further object of the present invention to lnaintaineffective driving connection between the plungcrs or scrapers and a suitahly mounted motor, irrespective of the advancement or retraction of the scrapers, this being preferably effected bymcans of-a main driving chain mounted on the movable carriage and having projecting lugs which 013- eratively engage with corresponding lugs on the scraping chains. Suitable power driven mechanism is provided tor shifting the main carriage across its si'ipporting "frame "when the plungersare'to'be advanced into their retorts or withdrawn therefrom, and hand controlled mechanism is provided for reversing the' direction of movement of the carriageon lts nam and automatic controlling means may also be provided for interrupting forward or backwardmovement of the carigage at a predetermined point when desire *Othero'bjects and advant g of the P ent invention will be made clear by the following detailed description which is to be Figure isa side elevation of the complete machine, showing the scrapers in working positionin'the rctorts;1ig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig 1; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation illustrating the driving mechanism; ilflig'. 4L is a plan view of the machine," the plunger-s being broken away;"Fig. 5 is ail-enlargeddetail of the.

clutch and reverse mechanism, whereby the forward and backward movements of the 'belowjFig. 10'is a plan view of a plunger and its"c2irria e; Fig. 11 is a side view of the seiner-with'the'scraper cnain omitted.

The construction illustrated in the drawings comprises a truck 10 mounted o n wheels ill-and movable along a trackway which is laid intront of a retort furnace to be discharged.""Supported on this truck is a frame consisting' of uprights 1'2 connected at the top by" transverse channels 13, the flanges of which form fa guideway'ior the recepe tion of rollers on amovable carriage. The movable carriage comprises 'a pair of channel members 14 arranged vertically in the frame and supported: on a truckfeonsistin of a horizontai 1at e1'5,(F1g. 7), provide, at-its'ends with rollers 16', which. bear on the inturned fiaiiges e't the channel inembers 13 at the top of the frame. This carriageis movable toward and from the furn'ace and constitutes the mechanism for forcing the plungers into their retorts and for Withdrawing them therefrom. Y

Mounted between the uprights .12 of the frame are a plurality of channel bars 17 grouped in pairs to form-upwardly inclined guideways in each of whlch an auxiliary carriage is mounted to move toward and from the :retorts. As shown in Fig. 11 each of these auxiliary carriages comprises a frame 18 with supporting rollers 19 and 20 at its front and rear ends, respectively, these rollers being received in their res ective channels 17, as shown in Fig. 3, so t at the carriage is adapted to slide back and forth along the inclined guideway afforded for it by its channels 17. Each frame 18 also carries rollers 21 and 22 bearin on the front and rear edges of the channel members 14, which make up the driving carriage. It will be seen, therefore, that as the main carriage is moved toward or from the furnace, it will carry with it all of the auxiliary carriages, and these auxiliary carriages will have at the same time an upward movement due to the upward inclination of the channel guides 17.

At the front end of each auxiliary carriage and pivotally mounted at 23, is a plunger comprising three tubes, 24,25 and 26, grouped as shown in Fig. 10, and carrying at their forward end a yoke 27 serving as a bearin member for a s rocket wheel 28 over Wh1ch asses an en less chain 29 (Fig. 6), each link of which has a projecting finger 30 for use in driving the chain, and some of the links of which carr flights or scrapers 31 which project from tlie chain to serve in scraping away the residue from the retort tube 32. The rear end of each lunger comprises a fitting 34 of yoke shape caring a short shaft 35 Fig. 11) whereon is mounted a second sproc et wheel 36, over which saidchain 29 passes. The extreme rear end of fitting 34 is provided with rearwardly extending lugs 37 equipped with adjusting screws 38, whereby the angular relation of the plunger may be adjusted with respect to its carriage by rocking the plunger slightly about its pivotal ,center 23. Then the plunger is in action it may float upward about its pivotal center 23, but its downward movement is limited by the said screws 38. v

Mounted on each auxiliary carriage in alinement with the sprocket wheel 36 of its plunger, is an idler 39 in the form of a sprocket, and this-engages with the main driving chain 40 (Fig. 3) which passes upward between each idler 39 and its sprocket 36, and which carries forwardly projecting lugs adapted to engage with the lugs 30 of the scraper chains and thereby actuate those respectively carrying a weight 55.

chains. Driving chain 40 serves to drive all of the scraper chains and the idlers 39 hold chain 40 to its work.

The power for driving the scraper chains of the plungers, as well as for advancing the plungers into their respective retorts, and withdrawing them therefrom, is derived from an electric motor 41, or other suitable engine, carried on the truck. This motor may also be utilized for moving the truck along the railway, and for that purpose there is provided on one of the truck axles a worm gear 42 which meshes with a worm 43 carried on a vertical shaft 44, the upper end of which is provided with a hand wheel 45. Splined on shaft 44 are a pair of friction dISkS 46 and 47, either of which may be brought into contact with a friction disk 48 on the motor shaft by means of a hand lever 500 (Fig. 1) acting through a yoke, the ends of which are provided with collars 510 each having an inclined face for engagement with the coiiperating faces of brackets bolted to the motor frame. Shifting hand lever 500 in one direction forces disk 46 into driving engagement with armature disk 48 and allows the motorto drive the truck 10 along the railway, and swinging the hand lever in the other direction reverses the direction of movement of the truck. Small adjustments in the position of the truck may be made directly by hand through the hand wheel 45.

Motor 40 is connected through belt 49 with the main driving pulley 50 of the machine, and that pulley is mounted on a shaft 53 in bearings carried by the top of the main carriage and so moves forward or backward in accordance with the movements of the plungers. To compensate for the variation in distance between the ulley and the motor there is provided a be t tightener consisting of an idler pulley 51 carried on an arm 52which swings about the shaft 53 whereon the pulley is mounted, and which is rigidly connected with another arm '54 The weight tends to swing idler 51 in the direction to tighten the belt, and this tightening may be augmented by hand by manipulation of the hand lever 56, which constitutes a rigid extension of arm 52. ltigidly mounted on shaft 53 is the main driving sprocket 57,

whereby the main driving chain 40 is actuated, but, as shown in Fig. 3, this chain 40, before passing into driving engagement with the scraper chains of the plungers, goes over a second sprocket wheel 58.

Referring to F ig. 5 it will be seen that the second sprocket wheel 58 is keyed to a hollow shaft 59 and carries on its hub a small sprocket 60. Hollow shaft 59 is carried in bearings 61, 62, supported on the vertical channels 14 which make up the main carriage, and so is movable with the main driving sprocket 57 and its belt wheel when the carriage moves toward or from the retorts.

Within.hollow-shaft-59 and turning freely therein is a solid shaft (33-,- one end of which carries sprocket wheel (3 keyedrigidly thereto, andthe other-endo-f which carries a sliding collar (Jo-bearing prqectmg P1115 (56 which pass through the hub of a sprocket drawn and hollow tube 59 can rotate while the solid shaft (33 and its sprockets 64; and (37 remain stationary, but on inward movement of collar (35, the sockets and the solid shaft is locked to the hollow shaft, and sprockets 58, 60, 6+1; and (.7 all turn together.

Mounted on channels 14' is a third shaft 9 bearing at one end a sprocket 70 in alinement with sprocket 64, and at the other end a sprocket 71 in alinement with sprocket 67. Sprockets 70 and 71 are keyed to shaft 69, but that shaft also carries a third sprocket 72, loosely mounted and provided with a notched hub 73, serviceable as a clutch member. Splincd on shaft 69 and turning therewith, but free to move longitudinally thereon is a clutchcollar 7% whereby sprocket 72 may be effectively connected with shaft 69. Sprocket 72 is onnected by a chain with cket and so rotates continuously whcneverthe latter is running, but it can be effectively connected or disconnected with Y shaft 69 to drive sprockets 70 and 71, as occasion ma y require.

The mechanism used for shifting the carriage across-the frame of the machine when the plungers'are to he introduced or withdrawn, comprises a pair of chains 75 (Fig. 8), one on each side of the frame, and each having its ends connected at 76 to the lower end of a channel 1-1. Each chain 75 passes over idler-s 77 at the lower corners of the frame, and other idle-rs 78 on the upper corinns, and passes as shown in Fig. 3 over the sprocket wheels (34 and 70 (the arrangement being the same on the other side of the frame). Sprocket Gican be used to shift the carriage backward and withdraw the plungers, and sprocket 70 can be used to aa Vance the carriage and push the plungers into the retorts, and this advancement or retraction goes on while the scraper chains of the plungers are in motion. I

As a means for manually controlling the for-ward or backward movement of the carriage, there provided a hand lever 79 (Figs. 1 and 8), pivoted to the top of the r carriage at 80, and connected near its middle with a push bar 81. (l igso and 8.) This push bar carries at one end a yoke 82 for pins 66 seat in-theirshifting the sliding collar on shaft 63, but it also carries a second yoke 83 coiiperating with the clutch member 74, so that when collar 65 is moved outward to effectively disconnect hollow shaft 59 from solid shaft 63, the clutch members 74 and 73 may be thrown into driving engagement. In midposition both clutches are out.

-- With the push bar 81 and the clutch mech-' anism in the position shown in F 1g. 5,

sprockets 6% and 67 will be positively driven from sprocket 58 by main chain 10, and will act, through the drag chains 75 to move the caririage away from the retorts, but when the push bar 81 is forced in, the sprockets (i=1 and 68 will become idlers, and sprockets and 71, acting through chain 75, will move the carriage the other way. In addition to this hand control of the forward and backwa'rd movements of the main carriage, there is provided an automatic control shown more particularly in Figs. 5, 7 and 8. This automatic control consists of a short vertical shaft 8% supported in hearings on the inner face of one of the channels 14., and carrying at its lower end an arm 85, the outer slotted end of which engages with the pin 86 carried on the push bar 81. The upper end of shaft 84 carries a tripping arm 87 which passes outward through a slot in channel 14: into position for engagement with a stop 88 bolted to the horizontal top member 13 of theframe and adjustable thereon in accordance with the depth of the retorts to be cleaned. On forward movement of the carriage, the tripping arm 87 is ultimately brought into engagement with stop 88, and thereupon rocks shaft 84:- so that by the action on pin 86 the push bar 81 is shifted into the neutral position, and the forward ad vance of the carriage is stopped. To limit in similar manner the extreme outward movement of the carriage, there is provided an adjustable stop 89 (Fig. 1) corresponding with the stop 88 of Fig. 5.

To prevent the material scraped from the retortsfrom falling on the scraping mechanism of retorts lower down, there is provided for each plunger a metal chute 90 (Fig. '9) supported an its edges on rods 91 and 92, and comprising a trough-shaped portion 93 fitting oven the shelf casting of the furnace and against-the ends of the retorts 32, said chute also comprising a later ally extending portion as shown in Fig. 9, whereby material coming from the retort will be deflected sidewise. The rods 91 and 92, which carry the chute, pass backward through lugs 94, and are each encircled by a coiled spring 95, and on forward movement of the plunger-s these springs force rods -91 and 92 outward until their chute abuts against the retort 2 with yielding pressure, on withdrawalof the plungers, the lugs on frame 18 engage with the hooks on the ends of rods 91 and 92 and withdraw the chutes to clear the frame.

The operation. of the device is as follows: With the motor running, the truck 10 is shifted along its track into alincment with the particular group of retorts to be emptied or scraped out, this movement being efl'ected by operatively connecting the motor through its friction disk 48 to drive worm 4:3 in one direction or the other. When the plungers are in alinement with their respective retorts, the hand lever 7 9 is pushed in and the clutch members 73 and 74: are thereby thrown together and the outward movement of collar 65 withdraws pin 66 and operatively disconnects sprockets. 64 and 67. Then by swinging the belt tightener, a driving connection may be established between the motor and belt wheel 50, and this drives shaft 53 and sprocket 57 mounted thereon, and the latter by acting on the main driving chain starts all of the scraping chains into motionand also rotates sprocket wheel 58 and its associated sprocket 60, but the latter I is permanently connected by a chain to sprocket 72, and with the clutch member 74 in engagement with member 7 3 this sprocket 72 will drive the shaft 69 and its rigidly connected sprockets 70 and 71. These, by acting on chains 75, as shown in Fig. 3, will move the main carriage toward the retorts, and by so doing will force each auxiliary carriage and its supported piston outward and upward into the retort, where the continuously moving chain with its scrapers can tear away the residue to be removed. On completion of the forward movement of the plungers, the arm 87 of the automatic control mechanism strikes stop 88 and slides clutch member 47 out of working position, so that the further forward movement of the carriages is prevented. Thereafter, the hand lever 79 may be pulled outward to establish driving connection to the sprockets 64 and G7, and these by action on chain will withdraw the plungers until the automatic stop arm strikes its stop 89, (Fig. 1), and again interrupts the driving connection of the carriage. Simultaneously, with the advance of the plungers into their retorts, the spring-pressed chutes 90 come up against the open mouths'of the retorts, and on withdrawal of the plungers, these chutes are withdrawn far enough to clear the furnace shelf and leave the machine free to move along to the next group of retorts.-

I claim:

1. A furnace discharging machine, comprising a truck movable along a trackway, a frame carried by said truck, a carriage movable across said frame, and a plurality ofphmgers adapted for entry into retort tubes of a furnace, said plungers being advanced or retracted by movement of said carriage, each of said plungers carrying an inmost endless cnain forming a scra ergand' means on said truck for driving sai scraper chains while in their respective retorts.

2. A furnace discharging machine, com

prising a frame, a carriage movable horizontally across said frame, plungers actuated by said carriage and movable outward and upward to enter inclined retorts of a furnace and power driven chains on" said plungers for cleaning the retorts simultaneously with the advance of the lungers thereinto.

3. A machine or cleaning the residue for progressively advancing said plunger into its retort, scrapi means carried by said plunger and including an endless chain and a power driven chain for actuating said scraper chain to clean the retort simultaneously with the advancement of the plunger thereinto. v

5. In a machine for discharging furnace retorts, the combination of a plurality of pl ngers arranged 'one above another, an en less conveyor carried by each plunger an provided with scrapers, means for advancing said plungers simultaneously into their respective retorts, and a common driving means for said'chams operable snnuL taneously with the forward advance of theplungers.

6. In a furnace discharging machine, the combination of a plurality of plungers arranged one above another, scraping means carried by each plunger for emptying its retort, separate guideways for said plungers power driven means for advancing said plungers simultaneously, and a common driving means for the scrapers of said plungers operable simultaneously with the advance movement of the plungers into their respective retorts.

7. In a machine for discharging furnace retorts, the combination of a plurality of plungers arranged one above another, each of said plungers carrying an endless chain with scrapers, carriage mechanism supporting said plungers, power driven means for advancing said plungers intotheir rcspeetivetubes simultaneously, and a driving chain cooperating with the chains of said plungers to scrape the retorts simultaneously with the advancement of the plungers thereinto;

8. In a retort discharging machine, the combination of a truck, a motor mounted thereon, a frame supported upon said truck, a carriage movable across said frame, a

drive-shaft carried by said carriage, a belted connection between said drive-shaft and said motor, said connection remaining effective irrespective of movements of said carriage, and retort cleaning means connected to be driven by said drive shaft and movable into furnace retorts by forward movement of said carriage, and power driven means for advancing or retracting. said carriage.

9. In a furnace discharging machine, the combination of a frame, carriage movable across said frame, auxiliary carriages slidingly mounted on said frame and controlled in position by said carriage, a plunger con nected with each auxiliary carriage, an endless scraper chain for each plunger, a common driving chain for all of said scraper chains, a drive-shaft on said carriage for actuating said driving chain, and power driven means for moving said carriage backward or forward across said frame.

10. A furnace discharging machine, comprising a truck movable along a trackway in front of furnace retorts, a frame on said truck, a carriage movable across said frame, auxiliary carriages supported by said frame and movable with said first named carriage, and a plunger for each auxiliary carriage, said plunger being adapted to enter a furnace retort and carrying an endless scraper, and driving mechanism for the scrapers of said plungers.

11. In a discharging machine for retort furnaces, the combination of a frame, a carriage mounted to move across said frame, a drag chain secured to the lower end of said carria e and passing over idlers at the corners OI said frame, and power driven means on said carriage and acting on said chain to move the carriage either forward or back across said frame, and retort scraping chains mounted for advancement or retraction with said carriage.

12. In a machine for discharging furnace retorts, the combination of a truck, a frame mounted thereon, a carriage movable across said frame, power driven means for shifting said carriage on said frame, a plurality of guidcways on said frame, auxiliary carriages movable in unison along said guideways and across said frame, plungers adapted for entry into the retorts to be cleaned, said plunger-s bearing endless chains with scraping elements, and power driven means movable with said carriage and effective for driving the scraping elements of said plungcrs.

13. In a furnace discharging machine, the combination of a plurality of plungers arranged one above another and each including an endless chain with scrapers, of a common driving chain for said plungerchains, idlers for holding said driving chain in operative engagement with the piun chains, and means for moving all of s, plungers and said common driving chain ward or from the retort-s to be cleaned while the driving connection is mainfiainedv 1-1. In a machine for cleaning fn torts, the combination of a frame along a trackway, a carriage mounted to' move horizontally across said frame, upwardly inclined guideways on said fra retort cleaning chains adapted to advar along said guideway and into the retorts on forward movement of saidcarriage power driven mechanism movable with said carriage for actuating the retort cleaning chains during their advance movement into the retorts, power driven mechanism for shifting said carriage across its frame and reversing mechanism for changing the direction of movement of said carriage on said frame when desired.

15.1n a furnace cleaning machine, tie combination of a frame, a carriage movable across said frame, a pair of drag chains connecting said carriage with said frame and driven by mechanism on the carriage, and automatic reversing means on said carriage for changing the direction of movement along said frame, and retort cleaning devices movable into and out of furnace retorts in accordance with the forward or backward movement of said carriage,

16. In a furnace discharging machine, the combination of a truck, a motor mormted thereon, a frame carried by said truck, carriage mounted to move across said frame, a power shaft on said carriage, belted connection between said shaft and said motor, belt tightener to adjust the tension of said belt in accordance with the position of the 'arriage on the frame, a plurality of upwardly inclined guideways on said frame, an auxiliary carriage in each of said guide ways, a plunger pivotally mounted to the front of each auxiliary carriage, each plan: ger including an endless chain with scrapers adapted to enter and clean a furnace retort, a driving chain on said carriage and erwagiug the scraper chains of the plung to drive the same, idler-s for holding said driving chain to its work on the scraper chains, a drag chain connection between saidframc and its carriage, actuating means on the carriage cotiperating with said drag chain to shift the carriage on the frame, and rovers ing means for changing the direction of movement of said carriage on its frame.

In testimony whereof I illl' fi my signature, in presence of two witucs, 7

JOHN J. SlllllviONDtl.

VVil nesses R. B. Boone, Jr., C. W. BocrsoN. 

